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Walter J Waltz

Publications and source records attributed to Walter J Waltz.

14 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2021

Inertial Transfer Concept for Autonomous In-Space Assembly

Rocket payload and fairing size have placed strict mass and volume limitations on single launch in-space structures. These limitations are what motivates In-Space Assembly (ISA) and where Inertial Transfer has potential to improve or augment ISA capabilities by utilizing a multiagent autonomous system to transport untethered payloads. The Inertial Transfer concept is presented including autonomy capabilities, potential risks, and three system configurations. These configurations are based on the autonomous system’s available sensor coverage that tracks the payload’s state. Participating agents have well-defined roles, expectations, and assumptions in their physical organization and coordination of actions depending the mode of operation. The sensor information available to participating agents is considered as it affects the uncertainty in the estimated state and the actions required to capture the payload.

Multi-Agent↗
NASA NTRS2021

Inertial Transfer Concept for Autonomous In-Space Assembly

Rocket payload and fairing size have placed strict mass and volume limitations on single launch in-space structures. These limitations are what motivates In-Space Assembly (ISA)and where Inertial Transfer has potential to improve or augment ISA capabilities by utilizing an efficient multi-agent autonomous system to transport untethered payloads. Adoption of an inertial transfer approach significantly reduces system complexity, energy and time needed for assembly compared to conventional ISA capabilities, increasing the likelihood of early adoption for assembly. The Inertial Transfer concept is presented including autonomy capabilities, potential risks, and three system configurations. These configurations are based on the autonomous system’s available sensor coverage that tracks the payload’s state. Participating agents have well-defined roles, expectations, and assumptions in their physical organization and coordination of actions depending the mode of operation. The sensor information available to participating agents is considered as it affects the uncertainty in the estimated state and theactions required to capture the payload.

Multi-Agent↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Inertial Transfer: Concept and Multi-Agent Approach

Research and development of cost saving technologies is vital to the success of NASA’s strategic goal to extend human presence deeper into space and to the moon for sustainable long-term exploration and utilization. Reduction of mass has long been a method of reducing space mission costs. In this submission, Inertial Transfer, a new approach to mass transfer in space, is presented. A Multi-Agent System solution to the problem space is discussed. A scaled base-line simulator is constructed and demonstrated which will enable the development of AI capabilities necessary to perform Inertial Transfer. Finally, future work and key challenges are discussed.

Multi-Agent↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Design Analysis for Lunar Safe Haven Concepts

NASA’s plan to return humans to the lunar surface faces many challenges, especially in the sustained phases of the Artemis program. In combination with a habitat, a Lunar Safe Haven (LSH) would provide additional protection to crew, electronics, and equipment from the hazards of the space environment such as radiation, thermal extremes, micrometeoroids, and lunar dust. Influenced by the NASA Artemis program goals, the Lunar Safe Haven Study defined the high-level requirements, outlined the trade space for a LSH concept, and evaluated a set of concepts using a decision analysis structure. This paper will provide additional detail for two concepts that were designed and evaluated during the LSH study, the logic behind the choices, and some of the main driving design parameters.

lunar↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Designing a Distributed Web-based Simulation Environment for Enabling Autonomous Systems Research

In the continued pursuit of creating a future with robust Urban Air Mobility (UAM) operations defined as safe and efficient air traffic operations in metropolitan environments for both piloted and autonomous systems, development of the concepts, technologies, and procedures to establish this UAM ecosystem remains an active area of research. In particular, as autonomous systems continue to grow in both complexity and use throughout UAM concepts the need for simulation environments to both test individual components and systems and to study the complex interactions between them is paramount. In this paper we address design considerations, technologies, and challenges of adapting native simulation environment application concepts to an interactive and distributed web-based framework. The proposed web-based design allows for easier and wider access for developing, testing, integrating, and studying emergent behaviors of complex autonomous systems interaction. We demonstrate the utility of the proposed approach by showing multi-agent interaction and emergent behavior in two scenarios: (1) autonomous urban air mobility vehicles flying in a convoy and (2) interaction of a convoy with a search and rescue operation.

Benjamin N Kelley↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Autonomous System Operations for Lunar Safe Haven Establishment and Sustainment

To enable a sustainable, permanent human lunar presence, NASA must provide a safe haven shelter to protect astronauts and equipment from radiation, thermal extremes, and micro-meteoroids (MM). Planning and development for a robust Safe Haven includes an examination of NASA activities in site preparation, excavation, regolith transfer, surface operations, autonomous monitoring and maintenance, advanced manufacturing, and in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) for identifying the best approaches when implementing a safe haven shelter. These NASA activities were reviewed as a part of a trade study conducted at NASA Langley to assess technological needs and estimated technology readiness levels (TRL). This paper presents a thorough review of the role and level of autonomy in the establishment and sustainment operations of a Lunar Safe Haven.

Walter J Waltz↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Towards Persistent Space Observations through Autonomous Multi-Agent Formations

Sensing platforms must advance in scale and sophistication in order to support increasingly ambitious missions across Earth and space science; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR); and planetary exploration. Distributed, persistent observation platforms have the potential to play a pivotal role in next generation missions through improved area coverage, enhanced situational awareness, and faster identification of trends and changes. The Multi-Agent Clusters for Persistent Observations from Space (MACPOS) project at NASA Langley Research Center is developing key technologies for the autonomous, heterogeneous formations that will comprise such platforms. Research thrusts include dynamic formation negotiation for self-assembling clusters of agents, distributed motion planning, and coordinated trajectory execution. Adaptive leader-follower formation negotiation allows agents to cluster and break off as necessary to adapt to both nominal and new mission objectives. Coordinated motion planning and execution maintain the formation while ensuring safe separation distances among agents and obstacles in the environment. These capabilities align MACPOS with NASA’s initiative for space and surface in-situ assembly through fundamental technology development for autonomous multi-agent systems. This paper presents an overview and early progress for the MACPOS project. We describe the system architecture for both individual agents and the overall fleet. Design considerations are given for the planning, control, and metrology subsystems. Finally, we discuss planned project milestones and the expected course of development.

Matthew P Vaughan↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Autonomous System Operations for Lunar Safe Haven Establishment and Sustainment

To enable a sustainable, permanent human lunar presence, NASA must provide a safe haven shelter to protect astronauts and equipment from radiation, thermal extremes, and micro-meteoroids (MM). Planning and development for a robust Safe Haven includes an examination of NASA activities in site preparation, excavation, regolith transfer, surface operations, autonomous monitoring and maintenance, advanced manufacturing, and in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) for identifying the best approaches when implementing a safe haven shelter. These NASA activities were reviewed as a part of a trade study conducted at NASA Langley to assess technological needs and estimated technology readiness levels (TRL). This paper presents a thorough review of the role and level of autonomy in the establishment and sustainment operations of a Lunar Safe Haven.

Walter J Waltz↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Designing a Software Architecture for the Precision Assembly of Space Structures

As NASA’s space exploration and science missions expand in complexity, longevity, anddistance beyond earth’s orbit, Orbital Servicing, Assembly and Manufacturing (OSAM)technologies and concepts have become a critical area of ongoing research and innovation.Artemis’ Moon-to-Mars goals of building sustainable elements on and around the Moon andMars that allow our robots and astronauts to explore and conduct more scientific researchwill demand in situ resource utilization, construction, and maintenance to succeed. In-spaceAssembly (ISA), as a sub-component of OSAM, focuses on the on-orbit building or fabricationof mission infrastructure and payloads. One such ISA application is highlighted by the recentNASA In-Space Assembled Telescope (iSAT) study, which stated that the next generation ofspace observatories will exceed the fairing size of existing or even planned launch vehicles andISA has emerged as a viable approach for observatory assembly. Research efforts at NASALangley Research Center have led to the design of a novel TriTruss structural concept for themodular construction of large complex persistent platforms. The TriTruss design and otherdeveloping OSAM technologies enable larger and persistent space missions that would notbe possible with single-launch-sized structures. For example, 20 meter or larger telescopesor orbital platform applications. However, the increased complexity will require autonomousoperations for the construction and maintenance of long-term infrastructure to achieve missionsuccess. NASA’s Precision Assembly of Space Structures (PASS) project is focused on thestructural and autonomy capabilities required to construct an iSAT in deep space. PASSresearch efforts will develop and validate critical technologies needed for effective efficienton-orbit assembly that can be confidently adopted for future systems. PASS will utilize theTriTruss modules to demonstrate the autonomous modular assembly of a 20m-class iSAT mirrorbackbone structure including simulated mirrors and wiring harness. In this paper, we addressthe software and hardware design considerations, technologies, and challenges of designing arobust robotics framework for assembling modular space structures in support of In SpaceAssembly missions in general as well as for PASS specifically.

Benjamin N Kelley↗